NM Memorial Means to Murder Wild Horses

“A Senate Joint Memorial wants the U.S. Department of Interior to better manage a growing wild horse population even if that means euthanasia and unrestricted sales to people who might haul the animals off to meat-packing plants in Mexico…”

The memorial is sponsored by Sen. Pat Wood, a Republican from Broadview, New Mexico, who represents Curry, Quay and Union counties.

New Mexico’s Wild Horse’s Fate?

More than 50,000 wild horses now roam public lands, and too few people exist to adopt them all, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

The memorial asks the federal government to “follow the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and utilize all of the management tools provided in that act, including unrestricted sales and euthanasia, to achieve ecologically sustainable wild horse and burro populations. Additionally, this memorial encourages Congress to restore funding to that department to facilitate those activities.”

The memorial will be heard first in the Senate Rules Committee, but with barely a week left in the legislative session, not much time is left for the bill to wend its way to a final vote from both houses.

Carson National Forest has one band of wild horses on the El Rito Ranger District.

Is anyone surprised they are seeking MORE funds to feed into this broken program, simply to facilitate killing horses we’ve already invested many millions into removing from their rightful ranges? Why are none of the better strategies being circulated even being considered? When keeping horses managed ON THE RANGE is the lowest cost and best outcome, why this incessant effort to kill kill kill?

The BLM Las Cruces Field Office, which manages
grazing permits under lien for $48 million,
is failing to manage habitat for two important predators in New Mexico, the Aplomado Falcon and the Mexican Gray Wolf.

Your agency, the BLM, has acknowledged that the Farmington Field Office’s 2003 Resource Management Plan (RMP) is insufficient for oil and gas drilling in the Mancos Shale underneath Greater Chaco. You agreed to write an amendment to ensure public health, environment and cultural resource protections. The plan is not expected for years, yet in the meantime you’ve irresponsibly allowed the development of over 400 wells in the area.

It is unacceptable to drill without a plan – it unnecessarily puts communities at risk. Inevitably, disasters like the Nageezi well explosion of 2016 happen, which left communities in confused chaos due to the lack of an emergency response and evacuation plan. The BLM has shown it is willing to draft a thorough and comprehensive amendment, but if you lease the entire region for drilling before it’s finished the plan won’t matter.

The Navajo Nation, the New Mexico legislature, the All Pueblo Council of Governors and 15 Navajo Nation Chapters have requested community protections against this exact kind of irresponsible sale. Thousands commented this fall to demand cancellation of this particular sale.
You are not listening.

Please heed the requests of your community and tribal counterparts. Cancel the March 2018 lease sale immediately.

Louie – yes there are many many protest letters – BUT all the ones I opened & looked at are the same as this one i.e., a form letter pretty much. Maybe there are some that personalized the comment – but I have to remember what we are told when we comment on roundups – not to use the exact same words. I realize the fact that all these people DID send comments is good, but we all need to make the time to formalize our own statements – not use the same talking points as everyone else. Would it make a difference? Doubtful – but you know & everyone on this blog knows that the time it takes to look into a problem & make up your own statement matters.

Maggie, I haven’t commented on too many of the gas/oil leases, but in order to write an effective letter it does take time. The form letters have often been provided and written by people who are familiar with NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act). Those form letters do provide a sort of “rough draft” so that people know which points to hit.
If nothing else, I think it’s good for people to state that the NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE is the only acceptable and legal alternative.

I agree – but seems most of us aren’t taking the time to use it as a rough draft. IF the letters are taken as one opinion each of NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE – then fine. But as I said – we have been told that far too many times the form letters – no matter how many – are treated as ONE! That was my concern. The fact that so many actually did reply is a good thing.

The petroleum industry has established unfair and excessive political and insider clout. For example, an extremely low estimate from the U.S. Treasury shows that the petroleum industry reaps more than $2 billion a year in subsidies and tax breaks for operations on ecologically sensitive public lands, both on- and off-shore.4 5Information provided in other reports and investigations show that billions more go to benefiting oil companies.

The preferential treatment of large multi-national oil corporations have resulted in record profits in recent years at the taxpayer‟s expense.

Mining

The General Mining Law of 1872 (also known as the Mining Law of 1872) is an archaic federal statute that allows mining companies to extract valuable hardrock minerals from our public lands without paying any royalties to federal taxpayers. The law contributes to water quality degradation, destruction of fish and wildlife habitat and limits recreational opportunities. The Act allows mining companies to purchase our federal lands for the offensive price of $5.00 per acre and mining companies keep all the mineral profits. Abuses of this statute have resulted in profiteering from our public lands by speculators who have purchased federal land and then resold it to developers at maximum profit. For years, mining companies have enriched themselves on public land by mining for lucrative minerals like gold and using the latest and most efficient mining technology.

Grazing

Taxpayers Pay $1 Billion Annually to Support Grazing

The leasing of federal lands for grazing is a costly proposition for taxpayers. Approximately 48 percent, or 320 million acres, of the western lands are public lands owned by the American people.28 Privately owned livestock graze approximately 81 percent, or 258 million acres, of public land, but ranchers pay only a fraction of the direct costs for grazing and taxpayers subsidize the remaining costs.

Worth noting that grazing fees were dropped for 2018 by the largest increment allowed by law (25%) and are now $1.41 for a cow/calf pair or 5 sheep. It’s never clear to me if the 5 sheep includes their (typically twin) lambs but think they are all treated as adults for grazing permit calculations.

Must have been a printing error, the footnote in the grazing section does NOT say cow/calf pair ( as the BLM does)
“Animal Unit Month (AUM) is the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow, five sheep, or five goats, all over 6 months of age, for one month. An animal unit is based on average daily forage consumption of 26 pounds of dry matter per day.”

Oil Creates New Demand In Water-Stressed New Mexico
By Mónica Ortiz Uribe
May 14, 2014

On a desolate ranch outside Hobbs a leaky tank spilled water onto the ground. The water belongs to an old ranching family who now sells it to oil and gas companies. Local farmer Charlie Jurva, said this has become very common.
“I know a water truck will pay $100 dollars for a truck load of water. That’s far greater than what it could be used to grow crops,” Jurva said.

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